Special Needs Transportation

Special-needs student falls from moving bus, dies

TIMONIUM, Md. — Six-year-old Jeremy Jennings Jr. was declared legally dead earlier this month from traumatic brain injuries he sustained when he fell from his moving school bus. (After two days of no brain activity, family members decided to take him off of life support.)

Jennings suffered from emotional problems and attended a special-education school. On the day of the incident, the bus was traveling from the school when Jennings got out of his seat and began an altercation with another student, The Baltimore Sun reports.

Lt. Rob McCullough, spokesman for Baltimore County police, told the newspaper that one of the two aides on the bus broke up the altercation, and Jennings tried unsuccessfully to leave from the bus' front door. He then ran to the back of the bus, opened the rear door and fell onto the road.

Family members reportedly want an explanation as to why Jennings wasn’t in the harness that his state-mandated education plan required him to have.

The school bus driver and two aides who were on the bus at the time of the incident worked for M R Hopkins Transportation Services Inc. They have since been dismissed. A spokeswoman for Baltimore City Schools told The Baltimore Sun that the bus driver's license was disqualified, and the two aides had their certifications suspended pending an investigation.

The New Jersey driver writes a letter to the parents of two students on her bus who show kindness and support to a fellow student who has difficulty walking. It has gotten more than 45,000 likes on Facebook.

Steven Longoria of Texas forms a friendship with a special-needs student. He then hears from a bus driver and the student's mother that motorists are not stopping for the bus, so he starts following it on its route.

Glenn Chappell was notified that he was “no longer authorized” to drive a school bus for failing to provide medical certification. The school system was not notified, he continued driving, and died in a crash that killed five others.